The Flywheel

Program for November 7, 2008

What next for the mortgage industry?

Rich Mazziotti, a 30+ year veteran in the mortgage financing
industry, is currently a private banking mortgage lender
with Wells Fargo Bank.

Mr. Mazziotti will discuss the history of mortgage financing,
what happened to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and his
best guest at what will happen next.

MEETING OF October 31st, 2008

Welcome, Invocation, Thought or Joke for the Day

President Mark Howe called the Ghosts
of Winehaven fundraiser for the Richmond Rotary
Peace Project event to order (almost)… With more
than 270 Rotarians and guests in attending, it was a
little hard to tell if we ever really came to order.
Don't miss the photos.

Visiting Rotarians

There were many visiting Rotarians … Some of
the various Rotary Clubs which came to enjoy the event
and support the Richmond Rotary Peace Project included
members from the El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Pinole, Hercules
and Napa Clubs.

Rotarians with Guests

Almost all of the Rotariansbrought
guests and other guests brought guests too. Many attendees
wore great Halloween costumes. After all this was
the “Ghosts of Winehaven” event. [Jim
Young reported sighting ghosts in the basement
of the building: “...large stores of bomb shelter
supplies, from barrels of civil defense drinking water
to a small mountain of stretchers”— ghosts
of the Cold War left here by the Navy, which occupied
by the building after 1941. See Program below.
-N.D.]

Sunshine Report

It did not rain. It did rain the day
before and the day after the event but it not rain
on our parade. It was almost sunshine and we were
glad and grateful.

Announcements

Mark was Master of Ceremonies for
the event. Among other things he announced
when the buffet lunch was served. A most important
announcement.

He encouraged everyone to check-out the display boards
on the history and possible future of Winehaven.

Mark asked everyone to bid on the items for the Silent
Auction and ran the Live Auction with John Ziesenhenne… which
they did with great gusto. Everyone in-turn
responded with great gusto.

Mark requested us to participate in the Wine Tasting/Donation
activity. Again everyone responded with enthusiasm.

He also encouraged everyone to take a stroll through
the winery and to tour the Wine Master’s cottage. And
again the crowd complied.

Recognitions

Recognition and thanks go to Mark Howe, Marsha Tomassi,
and to the rest of the event Committee of Alan Baer,
Michael Gill, Barbara M., John Salmon, Karen
Jewell and Margaret Morkowski. Also recognition
and a special thank you to David Brown, Jan Brown, Tom
Butt, Hank Covell, Nick Despota and his wife Nel, Barbara
Diaz, Josh Genser, Laura Kuhn, Don Lau, Jon Lawlis,
Rafael Madrigal, Mid Dornan, Pat Pearson, Bill Travis,
Dustin Travis, John Ziesenhenne, Willie Agnew, Bill Lindsay,
Rochelle Monk Cheryl Maier of Opportunity West and everyone
else who contributed in many ways to the success of the
event

Happy and Sad Dollars

All the dollars were Happy Dollars as all of the funds
collected from the Silent Auction, the Live Auction and
the Donations plus the net proceeds from the Wine Tasting
and from the lunch go to the Richmond Rotary Peace Project.

Raffle Results

No Raffle today, but someone did go home from event
with a plant-filled urinal “obtained” during
the auctions.

THE PROGRAM

The History of Winehaven

Our speaker was Richmond Rotarian Tom Butt and
he presented a history of Winehaven. In 1907, the California
Wine Association purchased a 47-acre parcel on the Bay
in Richmond for their Winehaven Winery complex. This
followed the 1906 San Francisco earthquake when their
magnificent headquarters building in South of Market
in San Francisco burned to the ground. The Wine
Association chose the Richmond site because of its deep
water harbor-frontage where ocean-going ships could easily
moor and because the nearby Belt Railway made connections
with the near-by Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe Railroads. At this location, grapes
could arrive by barge, ship or rail from the California
vineyards and wine and champagne could then be shipped
across the country and around the world. The building
project began with the construction of the 29-room Winehaven
Hotel. This was the scene of many a party and dance over
the ensuing decade and the winery soon became a favorite
tourist attraction along with the winery. The Wine Association
initially invested $1 million along the Richmond shoreline.
Between 1907 and 1909, several hundred workers were hired,
including construction workers, laborers, bottlers and
coopers to make the barrels. By 1911, twenty-nine family
cottages were constructed on the hillside beyond the
steam plant. The Winemaster’s house was the
largest cottage and it was near the top of the hill. The
enormous Red-brick turreted “Castle” was
one of two huge wine making and warehouse buildings. They
were capable of holding 8 million gallons of wine and
had 12 miles of passageways winding between huge redwood
tanks and barrels.

Grapes were first pressed at the winery in 1909 and
the winery shipped anywhere from 1,000 to 50,000 gallons
of wine a day – tank cars, barrels and bottled
goods. By 1919, Winehaven was producing 67 different
wines for a total 12 million gallons a year. The
winery itself was worth $3 million at the time. Shipping
capacity was 500,000 gallons a month and 40 ships sailed
for New York alone. San Francisco’s “cosmopolitan” population
depended heavily upon Winehaven… requiring no
less than 300 barrels daily.

When the Volstead Act/Prohibition was passed on October
28, 1919, Winehaven was caught with its warehouses filled
to capacity -- an estimated 20 million gallons. The
winery could not economically provide the small quantity
allowed for sacramental wines for the churches and the
medicinal prescription wines for drug stores. Winehaven
tried to survive with a product called “CALWA Grape
Juice” but even grape juice connoisseurs turned
down their glasses. It was no go. The new amendment
to the constitution put more than 100 people out of work
and so the winery closed. The property was sold
off parcel by parcel between the mid-1920s and the late
1930s. And so Winehaven came to an end – until
World War II.

By 1941, the U.S. Navy had moved into Winehaven, annexing
more than 350 surrounding acres.
During the years the 50-plus years the Navy stated at
Point Molate, they scooped out vast caverns in the hillsides
for 20 concrete fuel tanks, some large enough to hold
2 million gallons of product. They laid some 20 miles
of pipeline and installed air raid shelters underneath
the winery building to support the families that lived
at the base. The Navy also constructed a new pier
and finally removed the old one from the winery days. The
present pier is the one built in 1941.

By July 1, 1962, the Point Molate the Fuel Depot had
undergone an extensive renovation. Automated fuel
handling systems had been installed and a $3.5 million
project was completed which modernized the fuel pier. A
$1 million waste oil treatment plant was opened in 1975. More
than one million barrels of petroleum products were stored
at Point Molate.

By 1990 the base had more than 20 tanks holding 1.2
million barrels of fuel, most were buried underground. Eleven
stored diesel fuel and the reminder stored jet fuels
and other product. Bulk fuel was delivered into storage
via pipelines from nearby refineries. It was then
transferred to ships and other Navy sites via pipeline,
barge, tanker ship or truck.

The Navy was always a good neighbor. The Pacific Locomotive
Association which was organized in 1962, worked with
the Navy and Standard Oil to use 2 miles of track to
Winehaven in 1969. The historic trains operated
on Sundays and entire families enjoyed their day together. The
locomotive association was able to establish a railroad
museum and maintain shops at Point Castro. They
have since moved their equipment and operations down
the Bay to Niles.

With the Department of Defense cost savings strategy
of base closing, the Point Molate Fuel Depot at Winehaven
was deemed as surplus and the Navy officially ended operations
there on September 30, 1995.

The historic winery of Winehaven was officially listed
on the National Register of Historic Places on October
2, 1978.

Tom’s Power-Point Presentation and other displays
around the room included many historic pictures of the
pier, warehouses, winery buildings, the cottages and
the Winehaven Hotel.

- Rotating Editor, Margaret S. Morkowski

Upcoming Programs

November 14
We'll meet at Salisian High School in San Pablo, where
Rotary member Father Nick Reina will tell us about
this venerable West County institution.

Have a suggestion for a speaker?
Please pass along the name and contact information
to Jim Young.